Game Thread GAME# 64: BLAZERS @ SUNS - MARCH 6, 2020 - FRIDAY, 6:00 PM, NBCSNW

[wizenheimer]

Typical S2 Whiteside and Stotts bashing, but yet nobody mention how awful Dame was in the game, no fire, no motivation, not even trying. As a leader who talks so much about making the Playoffs i dont see it on the court.

fuck that noise. Dame was fine his 2nd game back after a groin injury and 3 weeks off. He scored 24 points on 16 shots while CJ scored 25 on 20 shots. And Dame was working his ass off on defense for somebody who doesn't give a shit

your blaming Dame for shit is almost as bad as blazer1977

He was god awful today. Terrible body language and didn’t care at all tonight

Yep, and you dont see anyone here saying that, because Lillard is imun to criticism, it's easier to bash Whiteside and Stotts

you two should form a I-hate-Dame club

 

[Bruno_Sabino]

Typical S2 Whiteside and Stotts bashing, but yet nobody mention how awful Dame was in the game, no fire, no motivation, not even trying. As a leader who talks so much about making the Playoffs i dont see it on the court.

Oh my godness.... I can’t believe honestly. Disgusting

 

[Bruno_Sabino]

fuck that noise. Dame was fine his 2nd game back after a groin injury and 3 weeks off. He scored 24 points on 16 shots while CJ scored 25 on 20 shots. And Dame was working his ass off on defense for somebody who doesn't give a shit

your blaming Dame for shit is almost as bad as blazer1977





you two should form a I-hate-Dame club

He’s horrible

 

[kjironman1]

Cant wait for the impending argument this will cause. Lol

Not this time.

 

[JDC]

I've watched 8 years of Stotts defense now in Portland

it wouldn't matter if it was JJ Hickson, or Robin Lopez, or Chris Kaman, or Mason Plumlee, or Nurkic, or Meyers, or Zach, or Whiteside....Baynes would have had almost all those open three's against any of those C's because of the Blazer defensieve schemes...and yeah I meant to spell it as defensieve

Whiteside is not mobile, but he was hedging into the paint like all Blazer bigs hedge into the paint. And let's at least recognize that Baynes came into this game shooting 33% on three's. Where the fuck was the coaching adjustment when it became clear Baynes was hot?

and after tonight I think when it comes to Portland I'm sticking with defensieve

- They late switched with the guard
- Switched Hezonja on to him in the 2nd so they could switch pnr.
- Went zone to keep him out of pick and pop situations

None of these were executed very well though.

 

[kjironman1]

Melo to the bench and start Trent. Move Ariza to the four.

Anything to get Melo off the court tonight would have been good in my book.

 

[Labinot41]

fuck that noise. Dame was fine his 2nd game back after a groin injury and 3 weeks off. He scored 24 points on 16 shots while CJ scored 25 on 20 shots. And Dame was working his ass off on defense for somebody who doesn't give a shit

your blaming Dame for shit is almost as bad as blazer1977





you two should form a I-hate-Dame club

You maybe didnt watch the game or you were drunk, but he was terrible. Awful body language. You hate CJ we all know that. At least CJ was trying to make something happen, while Dame was just standing around and watching. Yeah he was sooo great tonight

 

[Labinot41]

fuck that noise. Dame was fine his 2nd game back after a groin injury and 3 weeks off. He scored 24 points on 16 shots while CJ scored 25 on 20 shots. And Dame was working his ass off on defense for somebody who doesn't give a shit

your blaming Dame for shit is almost as bad as blazer1977





you two should form a I-hate-Dame club

It's no hate dude, but someone has to address it, otherwise nobody does it here on S2.

 

[Tince]

I think it's very possible for someone to play a below average game while still trying and wanting to win. Seems like far too often some people confuse results with desire.

 

[wizenheimer]

You maybe didnt watch the game or you were drunk, but he was terrible. Awful body language. You hate CJ we all know that. At least CJ was trying to make something happen, while Dame was just standing around and watching. Yeah he was sooo great tonight

I don't hate CJ, I dislike his game and want him on another team

but I don't spend any time trying to interpret his body language...because that would be fucking stupid

 

[kjironman1]

I watched some attitude tonight.
Seemed to me that Melo was taking a bunch of plays off. Not exactly sure why but he was not even trying to contest shots or even stay in front of his man. Saric for the most part.

Then i watched Whiteside respond to it by pretty much leaving the interior defense at times because he was sick and tired of trying to cover for Melo.

Ariza ended up calling him out of it so it seems during one stoppage for free throws. Ariza tried to make up for Hassan playing very loose. Ariza pretty much lit Whiteside up but you could see his reaction was "Tell Him" pointing at Melo. after the first free throw Stotts pulled melo and put Mario back in.

This chemistry is not gonna work. Not while losing. If this keeps up we will not see Melo back next year (I personally have no problem with that) and i would bet Hassan is gone also.

Melo had some good games. But it is obvious at this point, right now anyway, he has lost a step. You are no longer seeing him move in for rebounds and even jumping for boards. He is literally side stepping when a player is driving. You have not seen him make an power move to the basket since before the All Star break. No Dunks. He is coasting.

Of course this is just my take but it is what i am seeing right now. Might be more to it? But right now there is no reason to see Melo on the court.

 

[wizenheimer]

I watched some attitude tonight.
Seemed to me that Melo was taking a bunch of plays off. Not exactly sure why but he was not even trying to contest shots or even stay in front of his man. Saric for the most part.

Then i watched Whiteside respond to it by pretty much leaving the interior defense at times because he was sick and tired of trying to cover for Melo.

Ariza ended up calling him out of it so it seems during one stoppage for free throws. Ariza tried to make up for Hassan playing very loose. Ariza pretty much lit Whiteside up but you could see his reaction was "Tell Him" pointing at Melo. after the first free throw Stotts pulled melo and put Mario back in.

This chemistry is not gonna work. Not while losing. If this keeps up we will not see Melo back next year (I personally have no problem with that) and i would bet Hassan is gone also.

Melo had some good games. But it is obvious at this point, right now anyway, he has lost a step. You are no longer seeing him move in for rebounds and even jumping for boards. He is literally side stepping when a player is driving. You have not seen him make an power move to the basket since before the All Star break. No Dunks. He is coasting.

Of course this is just my take but it is what i am seeing right now. Might be more to it? But right now there is no reason to see Melo on the court.

something was definitely going on there. It didn't look like Ariza and Whiteside were talking nice to each other and Baynes kind of had a smirk on his face standing between them

I don't want Melo back. He's not going to be more efficient next season when he's a year older, and he's just another easy excuse to run iso-ball...screw that

at this point, one of the most unbelievable things about this season, to me, is that with 18 games left, Portland is 12 games behind OKC. Not in a million years would I have thought that last fall

 

[kjironman1]

something was definitely going on there. It didn't look like Ariza and Whiteside were talking nice to each other and Baynes kind of had a smirk on his face standing between them

I don't want Melo back. He's not going to be more efficient next season when he's a year older, and he's just another easy excuse to run iso-ball...screw that

at this point, one of the most unbelievable things about this season, to me, is that with 18 games left, Portland is 12 games behind OKC. Not in a million years would I have though that last fall

The mix is very bad. You have Whiteside who seems to need to be the big man. You have Melo who is simply not playing hard and then you have Ariza who always at least tries. Ariza seems to be getting fed up with the half ass garbage.

 

[Wade Garrett]

The mix is very bad. You have Whiteside who seems to need to be the big man. You have Melo who is simply not playing hard and then you have Ariza who always at least tries. Ariza seems to be getting fed up with the half ass garbage.

Melo has faded.
Pains me to say cos I love the guy, but he's starting to remind me of Willie Mays with the Mets.

 

[OneSport3]

Yep, and you dont see anyone here saying that, because Lillard is imun to criticism, it's easier to bash Whiteside and Stotts

The man is coming off a groin injury. If you have ever injured your groin you would know that it’s a nagging injury that takes a long time to completely heal.

 

[OneSport3]

I've watched 8 years of Stotts defense now in Portland

it wouldn't matter if it was JJ Hickson, or Robin Lopez, or Chris Kaman, or Mason Plumlee, or Nurkic, or Meyers, or Zach, or Whiteside....Baynes would have had almost all those open three's against any of those C's because of the Blazer defensieve schemes...and yeah I meant to spell it as defensieve

Whiteside is not mobile, but he was hedging into the paint like all Blazer bigs hedge into the paint. And let's at least recognize that Baynes came into this game shooting 33% on three's. Where the fuck was the coaching adjustment when it became clear Baynes was hot?

and after tonight I think when it comes to Portland I'm sticking with defensieve

Stotts was fine leaving Steph Curry open from 3 so him being ok with leaving Baynes open from 3 is not a shocker.

 

[James lamphear]

Hell it was total team lost from the coaches to players plain simple. You can point fingers about anyone of them. Phoenix really does got shooters and you leave them open they will make you pay and that exactly what they did. You can't have the same game plan for every team and that's what this team as majority of the time especially on defense. You can't have the same game plan for ayton at center then with Baines at center if you can't have come up with difference defense against who out there you going to loose quite bit of games.

 

[Tince]

I've watched 8 years of Stotts defense now in Portland

it wouldn't matter if it was JJ Hickson, or Robin Lopez, or Chris Kaman, or Mason Plumlee, or Nurkic, or Meyers, or Zach, or Whiteside....Baynes would have had almost all those open three's against any of those C's because of the Blazer defensieve schemes...and yeah I meant to spell it as defensieve

Whiteside is not mobile, but he was hedging into the paint like all Blazer bigs hedge into the paint. And let's at least recognize that Baynes came into this game shooting 33% on three's. Where the fuck was the coaching adjustment when it became clear Baynes was hot?

and after tonight I think when it comes to Portland I'm sticking with defensieve

If the scheme is unchanged and Baynes is a 33% three-point shooter, I'm assuming there are a lot of other centers who have hit 9 threes against us in the last year...or not?

 

[JoshuaHall]

something was definitely going on there. It didn't look like Ariza and Whiteside were talking nice to each other and Baynes kind of had a smirk on his face standing between them

I don't want Melo back. He's not going to be more efficient next season when he's a year older, and he's just another easy excuse to run iso-ball...screw that

at this point, one of the most unbelievable things about this season, to me, is that with 18 games left, Portland is 12 games behind OKC. Not in a million years would I have thought that last fall

Now this has been a hell of a season and truuuuust me, no one wants Stotts fired more than me BUT...

If I told you we would be missing Nurk, Collins, Hood for most of the year, Dame for almost a month, would you feel the same way?

Now what if I told you are rotation, in late February, would include Caleb Swanigan, Wenyen Gabriel?

I’ll say this though...

OKC must have a hell of a training staff because CP3 hasn’t played more than 61 games in the last 3 years (already at 61) and only 3 in the last 9 years total.

CP3 says it’s the vegan diet, but idk

 

[KSF-ERIC]

I watched some attitude tonight.
Seemed to me that Melo was taking a bunch of plays off. Not exactly sure why but he was not even trying to contest shots or even stay in front of his man. Saric for the most part.

Then i watched Whiteside respond to it by pretty much leaving the interior defense at times because he was sick and tired of trying to cover for Melo.

Ariza ended up calling him out of it so it seems during one stoppage for free throws. Ariza tried to make up for Hassan playing very loose. Ariza pretty much lit Whiteside up but you could see his reaction was "Tell Him" pointing at Melo. after the first free throw Stotts pulled melo and put Mario back in.

This chemistry is not gonna work. Not while losing. If this keeps up we will not see Melo back next year (I personally have no problem with that) and i would bet Hassan is gone also.

Melo had some good games. But it is obvious at this point, right now anyway, he has lost a step. You are no longer seeing him move in for rebounds and even jumping for boards. He is literally side stepping when a player is driving. You have not seen him make an power move to the basket since before the All Star break. No Dunks. He is coasting.

Of course this is just my take but it is what i am seeing right now. Might be more to it? But right now there is no reason to see Melo on the court.

Interesting. Melo had some power drives in game against Washington a couple nights ago. He also had an alley oop dunk. Did you miss that game?

 

[PHXBlazer1]

I definitely saw an exchange between Melo and Hassan that didn’t look too friendly after one of our many defensive lapses.

 

[kjironman1]

Melo has faded.
Pains me to say cos I love the guy, but he's starting to remind me of Willie Mays with the Mets.

It does pain me also. But it's obvious. He did have a good scoring game against the Wiz. But against the Suns he looked disinterested in helping at all on defense and again he was unwilling to grab a rebound. A teams PF needs to help on the boards.
How long has it been since we have seen him put the ball on the floor and drive hard to the basket for a two handed dunk. He is opting for the fadeaway every time.

I have to also say Lillard does not seem to be moving nearly as well. Just does not have that extra burst he had. I do understand a 75% Lillard is better than anything else they have but as many have pointed out. This team sorely lacks a backup point guard.

 

[kjironman1]

Interesting. Melo had some power drives in game against Washington a couple nights ago. He also had an alley oop dunk. Did you miss that game?

He did have a good game against the Wiz. But overall we are seeing his style change. Pull up jumpers pretty much every time. He ended up with 25 points but he also only bought in 5 rebounds. For some reason against Phoenix he could only come up with 4 rebounds? This is from our PF that played 34 mins. Yes i watched the games. I watched multiple times when he stepped aside and left Hassan alone in the middle.
Like i said in another post. This is tough to watch because i have been actively supporting Melo. I actually want him here as the back up PF. He brings a type of game that not many can. I just think he is wearing down. This team needs Zach back badly. They need to reduce Carmelo Anthony's role. Until then "IN MY HUMBLE OPINION" Stotts needs to get Little or Gabriel in the game earlier or longer and rely on Melo less. This does not mean that Melo should not be in the game on certain late game situations. His experience alone and his ability to stroke a shot under pressure is still there. He just needs to be rested when he is asked to do it.

 

[kjironman1]

I definitely saw an exchange between Melo and Hassan that didn’t look too friendly after one of our many defensive lapses.

It's been there the last couple games. Whiteside was completely outmatched by a center that could shoot from three and he could not leave the lane because when he did there was absolutely no rim protection. Booker and Saric were going to absolutely destroy them if he chased down Baynes which he is too slow to do anyway. Too many times it left to Ariza to try to put some perimeter pressure on two players. Remember Bridges can shoot from three also and ended up with 18 points. For all their faults Mario and Gabriel at least were moving and willing to try to defend.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Who the hell is Aaron Baynes........


Damn one man Blazer wrecking machine.....

ugh....

 

[SIeepwalker]

How the fuck does Trent only get 21 minutes ?
Meanwhile CJ and Dame play 38 and 39 in a double digit loss in the first night of a B2b

Wenyen with 4 very solid minutes so obviously he sits immediately and doesn't come back in the 2nd half to make way for Swanigan who thinks Rubio is his teammate

Ffs Terry Stotts you fuking suck.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

If our guards could keep anyone in front of them Hassan wouldnt have to leave his man

Isn't it amazing that we have such poor wing defenders that we put a 34 year old on the other team's best scorer every night?

 

[kjironman1]

So this is what Ariza was saying to Whiteside.

 

[wizenheimer]

If the scheme is unchanged and Baynes is a 33% three-point shooter, I'm assuming there are a lot of other centers who have hit 9 threes against us in the last year...or not?

that makes no sense to me....maybe I'm missing your point

meanwhile, my point was that coaching assumptions that form a gameplan, before the game starts, will almost always need to be adjusted during the game. It was obvious about 6 minutes into the 1st Q that leaving Baynes open behind the arc was a bad idea, but he was still getting open looks in the 2nd half. Somebody listed a few minor adjustments he saw but they were ineffective. Portland lost by 10; if they would have held Baynes to 5 three's instead of 9, they could have won, and holding him to 5 sure doesn't seem like an unreasonable expectation

I have to say Tince it sure seems you're become very Pavlovian in regards to Stotts. When there's any hint of criticism toward Stotts, I expect to see you there pushing back, even when the criticism is valid. I'd agree that Stotts is holding some bad cards because of injuries and some dumbass decisions that Olshey made last summer (and before), but he still makes bets with the cards he's dealt and some are bad bats. Leaving Baynes open all night was one of them

 

[TBpup]

So this is what Ariza was saying to Whiteside.

So for those taking issue with Baynes getting so many open looks agains Whiteside's defense, I'll take Ariza's word on it for what they wanted (and have wanted for all of Stotts' tenure) their center to do. If Whiteside isn't patrolling the middle (defensive warts and all) it would be an absolute parade line to the basket outside of whomever Ariza or Trent (if he is in the game) is guarding.